Scribd
Upload
47 views5 pages

The Self: WHO AM I?: Human Nature

The document discusses the human person from several perspectives. It addresses human nature as a unity of body and soul that journeys through social and historical contexts. It explores the concept of personhood, defining the person as self-aware and developing through knowledge and action. Relationships can help or hinder this self-development. The document also discusses what it means to be created in the "Imago Dei" or image of God, and how this relates to human dignity, sin, salvation through Christ, and our calling to participate in God's life and mission. Finally, it examines human experience, particularly sexuality, as an important part of life that is shaped by various individual and sociocultural influences.

Uploaded by

Sean Aguinaldo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
47 views5 pages

The Self: WHO AM I?: Human Nature

The document discusses the human person from several perspectives. It addresses human nature as a unity of body and soul that journeys through social and historical contexts. It explores the concept of personhood, defining the person as self-aware and developing through knowledge and action. Relationships can help or hinder this self-development. The document also discusses what it means to be created in the "Imago Dei" or image of God, and how this relates to human dignity, sin, salvation through Christ, and our calling to participate in God's life and mission. Finally, it examines human experience, particularly sexuality, as an important part of life that is shaped by various individual and sociocultural influences.

Uploaded by

Sean Aguinaldo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

The Self: WHO AM I?

HUMAN NATURE
 What am I?
 A natural unity of body and intellectual soul that complement each other
 You cannot think of yourself away from your body
o Dualistic view
 As spirit wedded to matter, journeys through matter toward fulfillment beyond matter
 This human journey must be a social one, together with, in a community with, other
beings
o There are people who choose not to be  antisocial
 This journey is a historical one; unfolds its potentialities creatively through time; makes
one’s own history
o Everybody has a past, present, and unknown future
o When you meet people, they are like that because of certain things
o Control is limited
 Example: dependency on parents, etc.
o You are making something of your life because of your choices now

PERSONHOOD
 Who am I?
 Symbolism: cross
 Person as self-possessing according to knowledge and to action
o On a level of self-awareness, who are you?
o “I”  self-awareness of ___ a subject
 Most basic “I”  I am unique
 You need to be your own person
 How to know who you are through actions  through repeated
actions
 There are people who are marked by what they do
 Losing you identity = losing yourself
 How much of you are is deepened by what you can do
 There is no final answer to “Who am I”
o There is always a possibility for change  it can get worse
 Person as self-communicative and rational
o Spiral of self-development
o There are relationships that are good for your self-development and there are
also those that are not
 Healthy relationships are supposed to accept you for who you are and
want what is good for you
 There are relationships that are obstacles to your self-development
 Question is not “Who am I” anymore, it’s “Who are WE”
o What can you give and what are you looking to receive?
 Person as self-transcending, both in horizontal and vertical senses
o Horizontal: to transcend is to love others for who they are and because they
are happy
o Vertical: Once I decenter myself and bring God into my consciousness, I will
love you for how God loves you
 Only with God, we have a love that will never end
The Human Person as IMAGO DEI
CONCEPT OF IMAGO DEI
 Genesis 1:26
o Humankind
 What constitutes the “Image of God”?
o Special duties and capacities God have given humankind
 Duties of shaping the social relations
 “Be fruitful and multiply”
 The ruling over other creatures
 Misinterpreted as complete control over nature
 By shaping social life, as well as by “subduing the earth”, humankind represents God
within (this part of) the world
o Distinguishes humankind from any other creatures

THE ACCOUNT IN GENESIS


 Humanity as pinnacle of the created order
 Created with a special dignity in a special relationship with God
o The Fall (Genesis 3: 1-24): original sin
 Humanity’s sinful state
 Need of a savior

AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO
 Stress on the special relationship between God and humanity
 God is immutable, human beings are mutable
o Through this mutability, the Fall occurs
 Humanity has the tendency to turn away from God, to sin, and to be damned
 Yet, humanity has an “appetite” for “blessedness”
o There is a yearning for God
o “Beatific Vision”  to see God face-to-face and know/experience how it feels
to be loved
 Everybody wants this but it is a struggle due to sin
 Salvation comes through the sacrifice of Christ

THOMAS AQUINAS
 Humanity’s likeness to God is colored by our sin
 Still, likeness to God is our true identity and fuller participation in this reality is our true
calling
 Union to God is only possible through the grace of Christ
o Our personal pilgrimage and quest to find our true identity and home in God is
made possible by “grace” of Christ, which builds on our human “nature”

THE COUNCIL OF TRENT


 Clarified how the infusion of grace in the sacrament of baptism set the Christian made
in Imago Dei on a path towards oneness with God
 An active dynamic relationship between God and the new Christian who must avoid
sin and live out their baptism to be granted the vision of God in the next life
o An ongoing relationship with God
o Receive grace through baptism, which is fortified by the other sacraments of
the Church

SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL


 The vocation of each human being: Through our common baptism, we are called to
participate in the life and mission of Christ in our daily lives
 Emphasis on our special dignity as creatures made in the image of God
 Building up the kingdom of God as a community, as a pilgrim people
 Stress is to reach your perfection which is to be with God
 To be “image of God” motivates an individual as well as a solid way of living that mirrors
the ascribed dignity
o Cannot be lost or destroyed
 You are “image of God” even if your state of being and/or your behavior may not display
that in a full sense, and thus you merit to be respected as being “image of God”

CREATED IN HE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD


 Each human being is:
o Called by Him
o Known by God and loved by Him
o Willed by God and is in God’s image
o Stands under God’s special protection

TO BE IMAGE OF GOD MEANS…


 As a human being, I cannot be closed in on myself
 I am relational
 I am a being of word and of love
 I am in motion towards the other
The Human Person: IN EXPERIENCE AND IN CHRIST
PRE-NOTE
 Relationship bet, body personhood, and socio-cultural institutions
1. Recognize the human body, particularly in its physiology has not really changed
over time and space
2. Accept that certain socio-cultural institutions engage with and “give form” to a
person’s bodily experience
3. Arrive at critical stance
a. Does the human body in itself, determine cross-cultural social relations
that are present in history?
b. To what degree do actual institutions enhance or inhibit human
flourishing and envision preferable alternatives?

MY SEXUALITY: Human Bodily Existence


 An important part of human life
 Only Humans attribute values customs, and meanings to sex and sexuality that goes
beyond procreation
 Encompasses nearly every aspect of our being – from attitudes and values, to feelings
and experiences
 Influenced by the individual, family, culture, religion and/or spirituality, laws,
professions, institutions, science, and politics

You might also like